Scope 1.This area of knowledge is a bout study of the past . 2, Knowledge of history may help to decipher hieroglyphs , inscriptions , make out the origin and the meaning of a finding and even find something valuable . 3. This area of knowledge studies something that has built the present in all spheres of life of a society and determines the future of a country , a civilazation , a nation to a bigger extent . As George Orwell remarkably noted : "He who controls the past controls the future " 4. What is the ethnical origin of rus people ? Of which ancestry is Rurik ? Did Gosromysl exist ? Did Budda exist ? 5. It is argued that historicans and acrheologists should not unseal tombs and coffins . Concepts 1. Language plays the key role as a historical source of information , concerning historical documents and testimonies of eyewitnesses 2. Key terms in history : historical method , historical sources of information , reign , king , queen , form of government , laws , war , social and economic formation 3. History : Gossip well told ( Elbett Hubbard ) 4. History is merely conventional . Nowadays much revisionism takes place . new methods for historic research are being invented . Methodology (1.) to prove that an event , or something else existed , historians use several methods : 1. analysis of historic texts ( documents , diaries , etc ) 2. eyewitness testimony 3. oral tradition 4. appeal to common sense 5. examination of anything left as a material ( architecture , sculpture , objects , artifacts and items ) by lingustic ( deciphering ) and scientific methods 6. indirect witness ( 2)If all sources agree on a subject , it is thought to be prooved Majority does not rule ; the version will not prevail until it passes critical content analysis When to sources disagree , the historian will prefer the source with the most " Authority" source created by an expert or eyewitness If two independent sources agree on a matter , the reliability of each is measurebly enhanced If a number of independent sources contain the same message , the credibility of the message is strongly increased If it can be demonstrated that the witness or source has no direct interest in creating bias then the credibility of the message is increased 3. As fact counts something that corresponds to any of the points in (1) , then passed a critical analysis , not undermining methods in (2) simply saying something that is consistent with historical method 4. Certain models are used in historical method Models are represented in history in a way of genealogical tree .
Also models are very useful in describing the results of the activiy of a certain historic person 5. Archeological methods iare pretty much a matter of ethnical debates . Historical development 1. During the 19th, 20th century , basic priciples and procedures of historic method were underlied ( Garragham - source critisim , Bernheim - procedures for contradictory sources ) links to personal knowledge 1. This area is important to become an erudite person . History may sometimes repeat . The knowledge from the past can be used to understand the present History contains a huge number of mistakes that people made . knowing them , one can be aware of them , thus less likely to make them . 2. apart from becoming a historian , finding or revealing or developing something , one can become as an eyewitness or just share his personal knowledge if he is a historically significant